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indira Gandhi International Airport (Img: Pinterest)
New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry has called an urgent meeting after three Italian passengers reportedly boarded a Lufthansa flight from Delhi to Munich without completing mandatory immigration formalities.
The incident has triggered concerns over a major security and procedural lapse at Delhi airport, with senior officials from multiple ministries and agencies being asked to examine how the passengers managed to board the international flight.
The three passengers had travelled from Amritsar to Delhi before taking a Lufthansa flight to Munich on September 4.
According to officials familiar with the matter, they were issued boarding passes for both sectors at Amritsar airport. After reaching Delhi, they were reportedly directed towards an international-to-international transfer route instead of completing immigration.
Since the passengers were travelling from a domestic flight into Delhi before taking an international flight, they were required to complete immigration procedures at Delhi airport, officials said.
The meeting, scheduled at the Home Ministry office in Kartavya Bhawan, will be chaired by Home Secretary Govind Mohan.
Senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Intelligence Bureau, Bureau of Immigration, Air India Group and Delhi airport are expected to attend.
The meeting follows concerns raised by the Home Ministry over the incident and comes days after the Civil Aviation Ministry issued a show-cause notice to Air India.
The Civil Aviation Ministry issued the notice on September 12 seeking an explanation from Air India over the handling of the passengers.
As of Tuesday evening, the airline had reportedly not responded to the notice. Air India and the Civil Aviation Ministry did not immediately comment on the matter.
Amritsar is among the airports where the government has implemented a hub-and-spoke system. Under this arrangement, eligible passengers complete immigration at the originating airport before connecting to an international flight at the designated hub.
However, officials said the arrangement did not apply to the three passengers in this case. Since their Amritsar-Delhi and Delhi-Munich journey did not fall under the applicable system, immigration was required at Delhi.
The incident has now prompted authorities to review how the passengers were routed through the airport and whether procedural safeguards were followed.
